Naturally, Charlie by S.L. Scott

Summary: Twenty-five year old Charlotte “Charlie” Barrow is caught between her old life and the one she is beginning to build when she crosses paths with a handsome stranger on the subway. Not looking for romance, she closes her heart off to the possibilities of love. With a knack for mishaps, Charlie maintains her sense of humor while befriending the kind stranger who seems to be there at all the right times.

New York freelance writer, Charlie Adams, is forging his own path beyond the expectations of the society circles of his childhood. Rejecting family money, and fast-lane friends, he is snubbed by his family as he follows his own compass to a life more extraordinary.

Through a coincidence of events, they come to rely on each other for comfort. This is the tale of two Charlies learning to trust again while fighting their fates to create their own destiny.

I want to start off by thanking The Writer’s Coffee Shop and S.L. Scott for the ARC in exchange of a review.

When I began reading the book a week or so ago I became so frustrated because I only had time enough to read a page here and there. It was interesting and pulled me in, but I lacked the time to be able to sit and enjoy it. I didn’t want to torture myself anymore so I put it down until last night. I was able to finish it in a couple of hours.

Naturally, Charlie is a great story about Charlotte and Charles, both ironically knick named Charlie. Cute, right? Their initial meeting was a run in on a train. One of those star crossed lover, meets destiny type of meetings. Then Charlotte goes to a club with her friend and sees Charlie there. Destiny, again. However, it’s not all easy peasy. No, why would it be?

When they finally get their stuff together enough Charlie and Charlie go through this friendship type relationship and it’s absolutely adorable. You have to read to find out how they make it work. If they do make it work, because honestly Charlotte has some demons and she’s a broken girl who wants to love but doesn’t trust men enough to give her heart over. Especially men like Charlie. And she’s in denial through the whole friendship while Charlie knows exactly what he wants and is completely in love with her.

Their friendship was amazing. The laughs and fun they shared doing the most mundane things was so refreshing and wonderful. It wasn’t an over the top type of fanfare, where he would whisk her off on a helicopter to take her to the most expensive places to eat. Their friendship wasn’t about that. They baked, watched movies, and took naps on the couch. That made it so much more special because those things -the need to spend time with someone so much that you don’t care what you do- are things we can all do and it made their relationship so much more heartfelt.

Honestly, the characters were great and realistic. Their friends were perfectly played for who they were, and they weren’t over done. Charlotte’s feelings and personal obstacles were relatable. And Charlie did the best he could to show her with out coming right out and saying it that he wanted her. She just needed her time. Charlie was sweet and caring with his own demons and problems, but he had long dealt with them. Unlike Charlotte who never truly had a chance to.

A couple of times I wanted to smack Charlotte and tell her to stop being so stupid … to go get the man, but she couldn’t.

The ending was perfect with a true Happily Ever After and the journey they took to get there was long and worth it. It made them so much stronger in the end.